Businesses and other organizations must regularly procure certain items to carry out their operations. For example, a user in a manufacturing enterprise might be tasked with procuring from one or more suppliers a quantity of component parts that will be used to manufacture end products (“direct procurement”). As another example, a user in the same or a different enterprise might be tasked with procuring from one or more suppliers a quantity of products used in conducting daily operations of the enterprise (“indirect procurement”). As yet another example, an individual may wish to procure a single product from a retailer. Despite the procurement needs of enterprises and the sophistication of many procurement processes, previous procurement techniques have serious deficiencies. For example, even if a user knows what item must be procured, there may be much difficulty in determining the identities of suppliers of that item and, more importantly, the suppliers that can supply the item with particular attributes, at a particular price, for delivery before a particular date. Furthermore, even if the user is capable of determining an acceptable item-supplier combination, typically after a great deal of effort, the user is unable to determine whether a better overall deal could have been made through another supplier. As a result of any of these or other deficiencies, previous procurement techniques have been inadequate for many needs.